Good morning and happy Friday. Do you remember Andrew Otazo, the local hero without a cape who mostly singlehandedly picked up a literal ton of trash in Bear Cut Preserve on Key Biscayne? He wrote about the experience for us, and what all that trash means for our bodies and our ecosystem:

Over time, coastal plastic breaks into smaller and smaller pieces before making its way back to the sea. Eventually, it becomes so tiny that animals at the bottom of the food pyramid—zooplankton, arthropods, bait fish—mistake it for food.

You know the rest of the story from biology class. The bigger fish eat the smaller prey. The larger the predator, the more plastic accumulates in its body. Since we enjoy eating some of the greatest oceanic hunters—tuna, tarpon, marlin—we might as well chew through a recycling bin instead.

Well, we’ve got an update: 2.5 months later, Otazo has now picked up two tons of trash (yea, that’s about 4,000 pounds). Here’s his victory shot.👇 (Peep the video of his whole quest here.)

Andrew with the last bags of trash that brought him to two tons. (📸: Andrew Otazo)

“What was once an open landfill now actually looks like a nature preserve,” Otazo says. “If we do not address the sources of Miami’s marine plastic pollution (careless beach goers and boaters, storm drain runoff, and egregious plastic consumption), my work will be in vain. Every high tide brings a new deposit of trash.”

WHAT'S NEW IN THE 305

A South Florida connection. Yesterday a gunman opened fire at the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, killing five members of the staff. Among those killed was an editor and columnist with deep South Florida ties: Rob Hiaasen, the brother of Miami Herald columnist and author Carl Hiaasen. Rob was born in Ft. Lauderdale and worked at the Palm Beach Post before heading north. “He loved the mission of journalism and he loved the idea of working at a paper like the Gazette, doing hometown news, which is the core and the heart of our business,” Carl said. “He was a remarkable brother and a remarkable man.” (New York Times, Miami Herald)

An apple for teacher. Miami-Dade County public school teacher salaries can’t keep up with our skyrocketing cost of living, making it hard for the district to hold on to good educators. But without more funding from the state, the district says it has only one real option: asking voters to pay up. The county is writing up a potential referendum for the November ballot on raising property taxes in order to pay for raises for teachers and to hire more school safety personnel. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho is hoping that the district’s new A-grade status will make voters more likely to say yes. (Miami Herald)

What a tease. David Beckham’s Major League Soccer ownership group is so close to choosing a name and a manager. The owners say they have short lists for both, and that the announcement is “imminent.” Also on deck: plans for the proposed stadium site at the county-owned Melreese golf course by the airport. (Miami Herald)

He said she said. The City of Miami Police Department has spent big bucks on body cameras amid a ton of scrutiny over police misconduct, but according to the Civilian Investigative Panel, which investigates complaints against police, a lot of cops aren’t bothering to actually use them. The CIP issued warnings in 2016, 2017, and again last month. City of Miami’s police chief says the panel’s claims are just not true. (Miami New Times)

Pick me! Pick me! The competition to host the 2020 Democratic National Convention is down to three cities: Miami Beach, Milwaukee, and Houston. The Herald got a peek at Miami Beach’s bid (which includes Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami) and it promises things like speeches at the American Airlines Arena, parties at the zoo, and having delegates sleep on cruise ships. (Miami Herald)

On Miami time. Despite the fact that architects and engineers have made huge strides in designing homes that can make it through extreme weather events without major damage, almost no one is asking them to build those homes. In the last 10 years, only about 8,000 new homes have been designated “fortified,” which means they have features that guarantee pretty basic things like roof staying attached and not leaking in a hurricane. Why? Cost, and a lack of urgency. Until this last year of monster hurricanes and wildfires, few saw it as a worthwhile investment. (Bloomberg)

About time. Miami Beach just opened its affordable housing waitlist for the first time since 2015. They closed it back then because the backlog was so immense they couldn’t fathom adding anyone else to the list. Why’s it so crazy? With the median rent hovering at $1,580, the city’s market rate housing is totally unaffordable for most of the city’s service industry employees. (Miami New Times)

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EVENTS

OUR PARTNER EVENTS

📽Friday: Check out a vintage Japanese gangster film at O Cinema (Wynwood)

GOT PLANS TOMORROW?

Now you do: the Maroon Poetry Festival. Local creatives and activists, including the folks behind the dope Smoke Signals Studio, have come together to bring Liberty City an all-day celebration of the black arts movement (hit up that link for some history on “maroon” communities). We’ll be there all day rocking the photo booth. Come say hi! 👋